Indian-origin scientist makes leadless pacemaker

By Agencies |Posted 11-May-2014

New York: The world’s first leadless pacemaker, developed by an Indian-origin scientist Vivek Reddy, has shown promising results after one year of human trials on 32 patients who received the pacemaker.

The leadless pacemaker is placed directly inside the patient’s heart without surgery. Pic for representational purpose

“This is the first time we have seen one-year follow-up data for this innovative, wireless cardiac pacing technology. Our results show the leadless pacemaker is comparable to traditional pacemakers,” said Reddy, director of arrhythmia services at the Mount Sinai Hospital here.

The leadless cardiac pacemaker is placed directly inside a patient’s heart without surgery during a catheter-guided procedure through the groin via the femoral vein. The device, resembling a tiny, silver tube and smaller than a triple-A battery, is only a few centimetres in length, making it less than 10 per cent the size of a traditional pacemaker.

It works by closely monitoring the heart’s electrical rhythms and if the heart beat is too slow, it provides electrical stimulation therapy to regulate it. Reddy presented the one-year ‘leadless’ study data findings at Heart Rhythm 2014, the Heart Rhythm Society’s 35th annual scientific sessions in San Francisco city in US on May 9.